Relaxation
by somehowunbroken
Summary: Evan needs to relax. David helps him. Slash but completely non-graphic.


This was written for clwilson2006 on Livejournal. She won me in the help_pakistan auction and asked for an Evan/David story based on a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. This is what transpired. :)

* * *

David smiled as Evan wandered over towards where he was sitting. He was holding his P90 in front of him, casually to the untrained observer, but David knew that Evan was keeping a careful eye on their surroundings and would switch from lazy-looking grunt to trained soldier in a matter of seconds if the situation demanded it. "Hey, Doc."

"Major," David greeted. He patted the damp earth next to where he was sitting. "Join me?"

Evan glanced around them, looking for the rest of their team, and grinned slowly at David, who smiled back. "They're gathering samples," David informed him. "They'll be down at the river for at least two hours yet. I told Janes to give me a call over the radio if they need anything."

"Sounds good," Evan replied, leaning to sit beside him. "So, what are you doing?"

"Nothing."

Evan gave him a look. "Nothing?"

"Nothing," David repeated. "I'm just relaxing, You should try it."

Evan looked up towards the sky and smiled. "You're looking at the tree, aren't you?"

"Only sort of," David admitted. "I'm admiring it, but I'm not studying it."

Evan mock-sighed. "You just can't help it, can you? You see a plant and are immediately fascinated."

"Plants are interesting," David replied seriously. "For instance, the trees here produce an enzyme that, when mixed with the proper amount of water and salt, creates a powerful aphrodisiac."

Evan blinked. "How do you find these things out?" he wondered, only then catching on to David's grin. "Wait, you're pulling my leg, aren't you?"

"Maybe a little." David's grin widened. "But you really were buying it."

Evan snorted and shoved David, who leaned away from him, laughing. "Aphrodisiac trees," he muttered. "Can't believe I fell for that."

"Oh, no, they exist," David told him. "This isn't one of them, but there are plenty of trees whose bark is made into a tea for that very purpose."

Evan flicked at the bark idly. "Does this one do anything interesting?"

"I don't know yet," David answered, leaning back against the tree's solid frame. "I wasn't examining it."

"You really were just doing nothing?" Evan sounded surprised.

"Yeah," David said. "I really was. There are more sample bags and root cuttings involved when I'm actually working."

"I did notice the lack of plant bits sitting next to you," Evan acknowledged. "So what brought this about?"

"What?" David tried to look innocent but wasn't so sure it worked.

Evan raised one eyebrow. "Doing nothing," he said, spreading his hands to indicate the tree they were both leaning against, the open field, and the clear sky above them. It looked like an advertisement for a mountain resort, or a company that sold picnic baskets. "I'm assuming there actually are some plants here that we're supposed to be looking at, right?"

"Yeah," David replied. "They're down near the river. Janes and Volsky are down there. I gave them enough bags and bottles to keep them busy for a while."

"And you did this because…" Evan's voice trailed off, leaving the question hanging.

David leaned in and whispered in his ear. "You looked like you could use some relaxation."

Evan grinned and set his P90 in his lap. "I have been pretty stressed out lately."

"I've noticed," David said, turning to where Evan was leaning against the tree trunk. "I might have a solution for that."

"Really?" Evan dropped his voice and turned to face David. "And what might that be?"

David leaned in and pressed their lips together softly. "Relax with me," he suggested softly.

"I'm relaxing," Evan said. David smiled and reached down, uncurling Evan's fingers from where they still sat around his P90. He gently sat the gun down beside Evan and laid his palm on Evan's thigh.

"You're not relaxing enough," David informed him, tugging at his shoulder. "Come here. Let me help."

Evan shifted until he was settled between David's outstretched legs, barely six inches between them. David rested his hands lightly on Evan's shoulders before reaching around and pulling the zipper of his tac vest down. He slipped the vest off Evan's shoulders and laid it on top of the gun, returning his hands to Evan's shoulders.

"You're too tense," David said, squeezing gently. "You can't relax like this."

Evan hummed happily, letting his shoulders drop. "That's nice," he said, leaning his head forward. "That's really nice."

David worked in silence for a while, rubbing at tense muscles and working out kinks in Evan's back. Eventually, Evan sighed and leaned back against his chest, settling his cheek to David's. "Thank you," he murmured quietly, pressing a kiss to David's cheek. He shifted slightly, tucking their bodies more closely together, and closed his eyes.

"Relaxed now?" David asked softly, circling his arms around Evan's waist.

"M-hmm," Evan replied, eyes still closed. "I think I like doing nothing."

"It's nice every once in a while," David agreed, pressing a kiss to Evan's temple. "Especially when you do so much the rest of the time. You're always running around like crazy."

"It's a stressful job," Evan said, shrugging one shoulder. "Comes with the territory."

"Well, part of my job is making sure your job doesn't drive you crazy," David declared. "Hence the relaxing."

Evan suddenly seemed to notice the lack of the rest of their team. "You planned this," he accused, but there was no venom in his tone. "You picked this planet so we could have some down time."

"Does that sound like something I would do?"

"Yes," Evan deadpanned. "Did you?"

"I might have," David admitted. "I told Volsky and Janes to go play in the water for a while. They seemed okay with it."

Evan snorted. "They would. Are there actually plants to sample down there?"

"Yeah," David replied. "Nothing exciting, but they'll be able to find a few things."

"So," Evan said, stretching out his legs and settling back into David's chest. "How much longer will they be down there?"

"An hour, at least," David estimated, glancing at his watch. "Maybe a little longer, depending on whether or not they found the water lily-type plants easily, or if they had to go searching."

"An hour," Evan repeated, pressing a kiss to David's jaw. "I think we can find some pretty relaxing things to do."


End file.
